PoCo Trail,
Southwest portion The next SFURA
walk will be along the southwestern portion of the PoCo Trail, on Wednesday,
September 15 at 10 AM. Jackie Viswanathan will lead the walk. The walk is rated
as Easy (E). Running shoes will be OK, and you are unlikely to feel the need
for a walking stick. The trail is wide, nearly flat, and umbrella-friendly, but
it is mostly out in the open and if the day is sunny you will want to use
appropriate sun protection and to carry enough water. You may want to take along
a snack. There are picnic tables near the parking lot, for those who want to
eat lunch together after the walk. DRIVING
DIRECTIONS: Drive east on the Lougheed Highway across the bridge over the
Coquitlam River. Immediately east of the bridge (the boundary between Coquitlam
and Port Coquitlam), turn south onto Shaughnessy Street and almost immediately
turn right into Lions Park. The entrance road curves around a bit; proceed to
the northwest corner of the parking lot, where we will meet There are washrooms
a bit south of the parking lot, but not elsewhere along the trail. THE ROUTE WE
WILL WALK: We will pick up
the trail (which encircles the city of Port Coquitlam) west of the parking lot,
at which point the trail is along the east bank of the Coquitlam River. It
continues past a developed area and then enters Gates Park, at times at some
distance away from the water. After walking about 2.5 km from the parking lot
we will come to the Red Bridge, where the Pitt River Road crosses the Coquitlam
River. Here we will descend to walk along the east bank of the river underneath
the bridge, and then ascend to enter Kwikwetlem First Nations land to the east
of the river and its associated wetlands. (The PoCo Trail here was formerly
routed along the Sheep Paddocks Trail on the west side of the river, but
flooding a few years ago made this portion of the trail unusable.) The trail,
now a road, proceeds on or near dykes for about 1.5 km and eventually enters
Colony Farm Regional Park where it continues along Wilson Farm Dyke for about
2.3 km, passing the Millenium Bridge on which we crossed the river on a walk in
April. It then leaves the river and proceeds an additional 0.6 km east to the
foot of Shaughnessy Street, where it crosses the Mary Hill Bypass Road at a stop
light and where we can look out over the Fraser River. The total one-way
length, if we go all the way to the Fraser River, will be a long but easy 7 km
or a little less; we may choose to turn around earlier. We will return
by the same route. Useful PDF file
maps can be downloaded at <http://www.metrovancouver.org/about/maps/Maps/Colonyfarmmap.pdf> <http://www.portcoquitlam.ca/__shared/assets/Traboulay_PoCo_Trail_Map_-_Printable_PDF736.pdf> If you have
questions, e-mail Jackie at <viswanat@sfu.ca>. *This is a
voluntary activity. SFURA assumes no liability for accidents or injuries
resulting from the walk. |